Fragment of St. John the Baptist’s Body Returns to Constantinople After 822 Years

AMIENS, FRANCE — Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew received a fragment of the body of St. John the Baptist during a visit to the Roman Catholic Cathedral of the Virgin Mary in Amiens on October 9, 2026, marking the return of part of the relic to Constantinople after 822 years.

The Patriarch was welcomed by Bp. Gérard Le Stang of Amiens and accompanied by Metr. Emmanuel of Chalcedon, Metr. Demetrios of France, Bp. Ambrosios of Sinope, and Great Ecclesiarch Aetios, director of the Special Patriarchal Office. During the visit, the delegation venerated the reliquary containing the relic of St. John the Forerunner, which is preserved in a dedicated chapel within the cathedral.

The relic arrived in Amiens in 1206 after being transferred from the Monastery of Stoudios in Constantinople following the Fourth Crusade and the capture of the city in 1204. It has remained in the French city for more than eight centuries.

During the ceremony, the Bishop of Amiens presented Patr. Bartholomew with a fragment of the holy relic. The fragment will be placed for veneration by the faithful at the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s Patriarchal Church in Constantinople. The Patriarch and his entourage were scheduled to return to the city later that evening.

Previously, the UOJ reported that a St. Nicholas icon missing from Tarpon Springs for 103 years was found in Aegina.